(BRIGHTON, ON) – On Friday October 11, 2013 Northumberland Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) received information from a female resident that she had answered an ad over the internet seeking individuals to be “mystery shoppers†in the Municipality of Brighton, Ontario.
An OPP officer was met at the Brighton OPP Detachment by the 57 year old female victim who reported that she had exchanged emails with a male after she provided her name, date of birth and address to him about becoming a “Mystery Shopperâ€.
She received documents in the mail outlining her “Mystery Shopper†instructions as well as a cheque for $4,740. The victim was instructed to purchase products and service from TD Bank and report on her findings. She was also instructed to keep $300 for herself as payment for her work. The victim found the whole transaction to be suspicious, as she had previously worked as a mystery shopper. She contacted a friend at a local Money Mart office who advised the cheque was fraudulent. The victim then came to the OPP.
The Mystery Shopper Scam is where a cheque will be mailed to the potential employee and the cheque is deposited into the shopper’s bank account. The company will ask for a portion of the money to be returned and at that point after sending money to the company, the shopper will learn that it was a fraudulent cheque and are now out the money that was sent back to the company. As a result of the victim being vigilant and taking the extra step to confirm information she is not out any money.
Through an investigation, the OPP believe that the name and company provided to the victim of “David PETER – Pry 1 Research Group†to be an assumed identity and fictitious company. OPP would like to advise anyone who may have had email exchanges with this name or company to contact them at 1-800-310-1122, Brighton OPP at 1-613-475-1313 or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center at 1-888-495-8501.